How to pour a concrete floorLearn from a proI'll show you how!

My crew and I pour concrete floors almost everyday. Between the 3 of us, we have over 60 years of experience pouring and finishing concrete floors.

I thought it would be a good idea to make a video of us pouring a floor for a house to show you how we do it.

What to think about

For those of you do it yourselfers out there, I think after watching us do it, you'll have a much better idea how to pour a concrete floor yourself.

Pouring a concrete floor is a lot harder than we make it look, remember, we do it everyday. But, if you study how we do it, have enough help and use the right tools, your floor should come out just fine.

Plan ahead and be prepared

When you know the day you plan to pour your concrete floor, make sure you call the ready-mix concrete company at least a couple days in advance.

They are usually quite busy first thing in the morning and this is the time you want to pour. You don't want to wait until late morning or early afternoon to pour your floor. The sun is up, it's hot (if in the summer) get started early in the morning.

How to pour a concrete floor - What I do the day before the pour.

I always show up at least the day before the pour and check the dirt grade. I know if you're doing this yourself, you probably did the dirt grade also.

It's important you grade the dirt level. Most house concrete floors we pour are 4 inches thick. You don't want 2 inches in one area and 6 inches in another. Take the time to grade the dirt level.

Have extra help lined up, if you don't do this everyday you'll need plenty of help.

What tools will you need

Here's a list of the tools we use. You can rent them if you don't have any of these:

Laser level - this is what you set the height of the floor with

Screed - we use magnesium screeds, they're very light

Bullfloat - a must have to smooth out the concrete

Kumalongs - what we use to pull and push the concrete with (kinda like a big hoe)

Rubber boots - enough said

Gloves

Safety glasses

Shovel

Watch how we use these tools in the video, other than screeding like we do ( you may want to set screed pipes to screed off from) the other tools are quite easy to use.

One last thing before you pour

Make sure you watch the weather the night before the pour. You don't want to risk pouring the concrete floor if there is a chance of rain.

If it rains during the pour or shortly after you've poured, the excess water will greatly weaken the concrete and could ruin the floor. Don't take a chance, just call the concrete company very early and schedule for another day.

After you've watched the video a couple of times, lined up your help, and rounded up all the tools, you are good to go. If you do have any questions, contact me through my Ask a question page. I'll help any way I can.

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